Pocket resuscitation masks are well known in the medical and paramedic fields for providing protection to a person giving mouth to mouth resuscitation of a patient. One such prior art pocket mask incorporates a semi-rigid portion with inflated cushions for surrounding the patient's mouth and nose. This prior art mask is required to be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized after each usage.
One disadvantage of requiring complete cleaning and sterilization results from the fact that such pocket masks are often used in communal situations (i.e. emergency wards, ambulances, etc.) in which there may be some uncertainty as to how thoroughly the pocket mask has been cleaned by another person. Failure to clean and sterilize the pocket mask can result in substantial risk of contracting disease, etc. This often results in expensive pocket masks being simply disposed of instead of being cleaned and reused.
Furthermore, creases and folds in the design of this prior art pocket mask can frequently make thorough cleaning and sterilization of the mask extremely difficult. The prior art mask is also typically of unwieldy size, and therefore difficult to fold for easy pocket carrying.
Another disadvantage of such prior art pocket masks is that in some instances, they are available in one size only such that a mask which may be suitable for resuscitating an adult would be unsuitable for resuscitating a small child.